Cost effective, 21st century health care

Medical Physics is a vital part of the cost effective health care of the future. Every day the pressures on health care professionals to make their industry more cost effective are increasing. Into the next century, as society and the government deal with the financial realities of an aging population, these pressures will intensify. Medical physics can play a key role in this area. Participation in your ogranization's program by qualified medical physicists can produce billable services, save money on equipment negotiation and prevent mistakes that can eventually cost thousands of dollars.

Avoiding litigation
Participation by a medical physicist can provide added protection against costly litigation. In the areas of both diagnosis and treatment a good quality control program maintained by a qualified medical physicist can prevent equipment miscalibration or dose miscalculation that could result in multi-million dollar lawsuits.

Avoiding regulatory headaches
In addition, your medical physics program can save headaches and cost when dealing with the ever increasing regulation of today's health care. A violation with the NRC, your state or the JCAHO is not only costly, the bad publicity can often lead to a loss of income. Wading through the reams of complicated, convoluted NRC regulations can be expedited by the involvement of your medical physics staff.

Evaluation and selecting high cost equipment
Medical physicists are involved in the negotiating the purchase of high tech, million dollar machines to ensure you get the best value for your money. They write specifications to guarantee that your hospital is getting the equipment it needs. Often the price of the machine and service contracts which are a costly part of a purchase (a CT scanner contract can be as much as $100,000 per year) can be reduced. Some of the options available for high priced equipment can also be added at no cost during negotiations.

Getting your money's worth
Once your equipment is purchased, medical physicists evaluate how well the equipment meets the specifications by performing rigorous acceptance testing and commissioning. Some institutions lose money by scheduling machine replacement on a regular basis even when the equipment is operating properly. Involvement of a medical physicist in continuous quality improvement and maintenance results in the reliable operation and extended life of your equipment.

Be sure the future of your insitution is secure in the hands of a qualified medical physicist. It's the science you can count on.

http://www.aapm.org/medical_physicist/info.asp